Just Keep On Running
by Dancing Darkness
Summary: The Doctor is yet again saving a planet from the void of destruction, imagine what happens when he finds a very familiar face? Part 9 of U.Series
1. Chapter 1

Hey there, kids! It has been awhile but here I am! Due to moving back to uni my updates never sort of happened but I plan to fix that now! Welcome to Part 9 of the Unexpected series! Hope you like it!

Allons-y and enjoy!

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**Just Keep On Running**

He was running. Again. Always with the running. He could hear claws clicking behind him, chasing him, over the rasping of his own breath. His arms wheeled as they spun in a calculated pattern to increase his traction to enable him to turn the corner quickly but it was a pattern that also looked incredibly silly. But when one is running for one's life they tend not to notice that sort of thing. He shot round the corner thanks to this and put on a burst of speed, desperately trying to get ahead.

He was wearing his favourite trainers, white converse like his dad's, and what had once been a black blazer and slacks with a deep red shirt. The claws had rather changed that and it now looked like a loose cobbling of shredded rags on a gangly frame just hitting its growth spurt. He was only glad that he wasn't wearing a tie. That would've been most inconvenient. He'd also lost his glasses somewhere along the way, he made a mental reminder to get a new pair. When he got out of there.

It had all started with a simple trip. They were only going to Shan Shen – a planet that looked like an enormous Chinese bazaar – for a quick look round. A bit touristy but John had insisted. Donna had really liked Shan Shen and recommended it to John. Though she was gone he still liked to remind himself of her. Though his dad had said to stay away from fortune tellers. He wasn't sure why but he went with it. As always. It was better that way. More fun too.

Well, back on track, it had started with a quick visit. They were musing through the fourteen square mile Third Minor Market, below the two first Major Markets and above the Four, Five and Six Minor Markets, when his dad had picked up an odd signal. With identical grins they'd followed it, with no one like Donna to hold them back they were perpetually getting into trouble. Low and behold they'd found a stash of warp stars containing exploding nuclear storm drives waiting to go off. Someone was planning to make Shan Shen a nuclear wasteland.

They'd put a stop to the detonation of course. It had been quite a substantial effort and had taken the better half of ten minutes frantic rewiring and debate about the cultural importance of red wires and bombs. Why did you always have to cut the red one? John didn't know and neither did the Doctor. Eight of those ten minutes had been a fierce debate before they realised they had two minutes until detonation.

Shan Shen was a beautiful planet, very busy but very pretty. John admired it as he bolted down the back alleys at high speed. Of course, after they disarmed the warp stars they'd been discovered and he and his dad had made like bananas and split. His dad had taken the warp stars and John had taken the now defunct detonator and vanished. The idea was to hide and meet up later. That was the plan anyway.

So far it wasn't going so well. He was being hotly pursued and was fast running out of places to run to. Whatever was chasing him was a damn sight bigger than him so he'd been turning narrow and sharp corners to gain distance. However he was running out of corners and whatever was chasing him was catching up. Great.

He bolted into a courtyard and immediately tried to stop. The problem was because he'd been running for quite some time he'd built up decent kinetic rhythm and motion that sort of carried him forward. The motion didn't quite want to stop. This meant that, despite his best efforts, he ran straight into someone upon entering the courtyard and boy did it hurt. He and his unfortunate victim tumbled together over a bench and landed sprawled on the floor covered in dust.

"Argh," he moaned as he clutched the side of his head, he'd given it quite a whack. He jumped up when he realised he was still entangled with the person he'd run into. The person was a girl actually, she was not from around here either if her clothes were any indication. She too was clutching her head. "Sorry," he mumbled standing up and offering his hand.

She took it and got to her feet, she was taller than him even though he was hitting a growth spurt. It was a pain only being ten. "Who are you?" she asked as she dusted off her clothes.

John didn't have time to answer as a triumphant shriek caught his attention. He jerked around to see that emerging from the entrance of the alley he'd just shot out of was one of the creatures chasing him. It was big, fat and a sickly sort of green. It had small black eyes that definitely had a mean gleam to them. But it was definitely the long claws that bothered him most. Most definitely. "Found you," it rasped.

John acted on instinct. He seized the girl's hand and looked straight into her eyes, "Run!" he shouted and dragged her after him. Together they hurtled around corners and John was pleased to note that her stride was keeping up with his and that she wasn't screaming. Screaming would have really sucked. She also didn't tire easy, he couldn't hear breathlessness even after they'd been running for awhile.

He glanced behind them after ten minutes and couldn't see the creature. He slowed his run to a jog and listened carefully. The girl did too. He looked around; they were in a small back alley, virtually a dead end. A noise startled him and he dragged the girl behind a stack of boxes. Warningly he placed his fingers against his lips. She nodded.

Some was moving around just beyond the boxes, he could hear the scraping of claws. There was an angry growl and the thump of feet. The creature was gone. John let out an enormous sigh of relief and leaned his head against the wall. He let go of the girl's hand. "Sorry," he told her with a laugh, "I just really didn't want them to catch us."

"Well, if it's any help I didn't either," the girl replied with a grin. "I like running."

"Me too," John agreed, "it's good for you." He stood and dusted his suit off, or the remains of it anyway. "Dad's right. There's something unlucky about black suits. I'm so going back to brown, maybe blue. I like blue."

The girl hummed and looked him up and down, "I recommend brown. It'd be a better look," she told him while looking with a critical eye.

His looked down at his suit thoughtfully, "you think?"

"Definitely," she said with a nod. "I'm Jenny by the way, nice to meet you," she beamed, holding out her hand. "How old are you anyway? Twelve or something?"

He took it and shook with a smile, "nice to meet you. I'm John, John Smith." He grinned too and scratched through his hair. "And I'm ten."

"Bit young to be running about aren't you?" she asked, cocking her head in an oddly familiar gesture.

"Nah, do it a lot. Usually I'm with my dad but I lost him while I was being chased," John shrugged, he knew Jenny wasn't mocking him.

"Oh, what were you doing and why were you running anyway?" Jenny sat down on a box and pulled out a chocolate bar.

"Why all the questions?" John replied, slumping down too. He took off the remains of his blazer and began to sort through the pockets.

"I like questions and you look interesting," she said through a mouthful of chocolate, her eyes intensely focused on him.

"Fair enough," John said grandly. "Well, me and dad came for a look around, nothing bad you understand. We weren't looking for trouble or anything. We found all these warp stars filled with nuclear explosions and we thought that wasn't good. They were set to go off so we defused them. Evidently we annoyed someone because I just spent the last twenty four minutes running away from them."

"Really?" Jenny asked leaning closer. "What was chasing you?"

"They're called the Slitheen and they're from Raxacoricofallapatorius, its some way away," John told her as he sorted his items into his trouser pockets, he was rather annoyed to lose the blazer really. "They were chasing us because we foiled the family business thing they've got going. They destroy planetary life with a nuclear explosion and sell of the radioactive slag to any dodgy dealer thy can find. Dad told me about it."

"And you stopped them?"

"Me and my dad? Yeah, I guess so," John looked up at her tone, it was oddly intrigued.

"I think I'll have to go with you," Jenny nodded, folding her arms with a tone of finality.

"What? You can't do that. Dad said no hitchers anyway," John argued, brows dropping.

Jenny was about to reply when another voice cut across her, it was oily and disgusting. "There you are, little flies," it gurgled. Above them stood the creature, the Slitheen, John had no idea how something that big moved quite that fast.

"Hi," John managed. "I'm sorry I think you have the wrong people."

"No, I don't think I do," the Slitheen chuckled gloopily as it advanced at them down the alley.

"Don't try to run," rasped another voice from behind.

John glanced round and threw his hands up in frustration. "Oh come on! Reinforcements? That's just not fair," he grumbled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I think, little flies, that you will be coming with us," the first Slitheen continued. They advanced, forcing their large claws and larger bodies down the alleyway towards their prey.

"What do we do?" Jenny asked as she backed into John, gazing at the one behind them.

"Well, we're kind of in a dead end so I suggest we do exactly what they say," John replied as he gauged every possibly exit route.

"And then?" Jenny laughed, smiling despite the danger.

John also grinned. "I'm making this up as I go along," he told her. "But don't worry, I've got family history." As soon as that was said they were led away with a push and a shove into the darkness of Shan Shen. His dad was definitely right. Black suits were very unlucky.

They were taken to a very dull looking building – that was quite an achievement on a planet as bright as Shan Shen. Inside they discovered, to their joy, that there were even more of the Slitheen. Six in total. How wonderful. They were taken and strapped into some strange devices, like giant tables with hand cuffs. It was all very James Bond and John pretended to be suitably impressed. He'd already figured out that the apparatus couldn't do any serious harm so he wasn't too worried.

There was a whirring as a blue laser ran over both him and Jenny slowly. Evidently some kind of bioscanner. It scanned horizontally and vertically three times, three after all is the optimum number, and was clearly triangulating results from there. They were also fitted with some very odd headsets that, from the horrid pressure on his brain, John assumed were designed to measure brainwaves as a sort of primitive intelligence scan.

A few brainscrambling minutes later it all stopped. John looked at the Slitheen expectantly. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

"Well what?" one gurgled in surprise before it could stop itself.

"Why are we here?" John asked in a way that conveyed his opinion of the Slitheen was that they were a little stupid.

"Your genetic results have revealed you are not from this galactic quadrant," a Slitheen on the far left told them.

"Well that's not unusual is it?" John sighed, rolling his eyes. "Why is it relevant anyway? I thought you were trying to kill us, not that I'm not all for being alive or anything." He pulled gently against his restraints. It was no good, they were bound tight. He could hear Jenny doing the same thing.

"Awhile back some of our ancestors were incarcerated on Justicia Prime, the prison planet," gurgled the Slitheen working on the control panel. "The humans had captured them to use our superior intelligence to further their own invention." Beady black eyes turned to them, "this idea, though poorly executed by that disgusting race, has merit. Initial brain wave scans have indicated that you both possess a very high intelligence rating. You will work for us."

That was not a question. "Doing what exactly? Other than inventing I mean. What are we inventing for?" asked Jenny, leaning forward in her restraints.

"Your inventions will further the business," was the simple reply.

"Oh. You mean the destroying planets thing?" John chimed in frowning. "We already put a stop to that here though," he mused.

"Yes," the Slitheen replied, very annoyed. "It is only fitting that, since you disrupted this venture, you benefit with our next business plan." It went back to clicking buttons.

"Wait, what would have happened if we'd not been smart enough?" Jenny inquired, cocking her head.

"You would have been hunted and killed."

"Oh right. That's nice."

Jenny cocked her head slightly, "I still don't think I'm going to work for you," she said after a moment. "The whole destroying worlds gig isn't my thing. Dad would never approve."

They looked at her for a while before the nearest to John placed his long claws over John's neck threateningly. "If you do not assist us we will kill this young male," it slurped.

John and Jenny shared a look that spoke volumes. "That's fine with me," John spoke up nonchalantly. "If I stopped the destruction of this planet what makes you think I'm going to help you blow up others?" He chuckled slightly.

The Slitheen growled, "Do not be impertinent! There is no joke here! If you do not cooperate we will kill your brother," it screeched.

There was a long silence while John and Jenny looked at them bemusedly. "We aren't siblings," John replied slowly as if they were exceedingly slow.

"Nonsense," gurgled the one at the control panel. "Our DNA scanners indicate that your DNA strands share more than eighty seven percent of DNA variables, well over the rate of most species to indicate the fact that you share a parent. In fact, there are only a thousandth of the total strands that you do not share in some rearranged order."

There was more silence. Jenny and John looked at each other closely, then back at the Slitheen and then back at each other. "You're kidding," they replied in exact unison before looking back at their captors.

"You do not know your own family connections?" one slurped, surprised.

"Well we do travel a lot," John mused, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"I have been to a lot of planets," Jenny mused, glaring bemusedly at the floor.

"But the odds are uncountable," John decided.

"Astronomical," Jenny agreed nodding.

They looked at each other again and identical grins spread across their faces. "And completely _impossible_," they spoke at the same time. They both laughed and began to examine each other. They saw they had the same eyes, dark brown and full of warmth. Jenny had a light sprinkling of freckles compared to John's relative colony on his nose. They were both skinny and there was that spark of mischief in their faces.

"And that means," Jenny said with a smile in her voice, "that's you're in trouble, because-"

"-if we do share a dad," John continued, "and it's the guy I'm thinking of, then he's coming for us. Right now. And that's bad news for you." He looked back at the Slitheen with a confident smile.

"And why is that?" a Slitheen couldn't help but ask.

Jenny grinned broader, "Because he saves planets!"

"He rescues civilizations!" John crowed.

"And, most importantly, he defeats terrible creatures," Jenny finished. "And I think that you fall into all those categories." She relaxed slightly in her constraints.

There was suddenly an almighty bang and the room they were in shook. "What was that?" cried one Slitheen as another ran for the controls.

"Dad's here," John replied as his eyes darted around looking for a way to unlock them, "and I rather think you're in trouble. I mean you listened to the guy trying to keep you talking long enough for this to happen so you wouldn't notice the locator beacon in his back pocket. Talk about amateur!"

All Jenny could do was laugh, laugh and laugh and laugh, even as the room exploded into chaos. Beautiful, unbridled chaos that she'd only ever seen once before at the hands of, and caused by, a man known only as the Doctor – unless of course you asked her and John because then, it seemed, he was known as father.

---

The Doctor had known something was wrong the minute John had not met him back at the TARDIS. In fact he'd been certain of it. His son was a first class runner, quite a dab hand at the fast sprint. He should've been back more than an hour ago. Of course he'd begun pacing the TARDIS anxiously, fiddling with the explosives he'd so easily stolen and beginning to worry.

It had been such a simple decision to switch on John's tracking beacon, something the Doctor now insisted upon. John was still young, only ten years old, and prone to wandering off at a moment's notice. This wouldn't be the first time that the Doctor had lost him, there was that time on Penhaxico 2...

The first thing that was wrong with the signal was that it was immobile, wherever John was he wasn't going anywhere fast. The second thing that was wrong was that it was still for a very long time. John would either be running or bimbling around happily looking through the markets. The fact that he wasn't was more than a little worrying. The Doctor surmised that he must have been caught by the Slitheen. If that was so why hadn't they killed him? They must need him for something.

Well, at least he would be easier to find in one place.

The Doctor had set off at a brisk place, navigating easily with his hand held tracker. The markets seemed to actively work against him as people were constantly moving into his path or static from nearby stalls was obscuring his signal. Nevertheless he jogged on, woe betide him to walk anywhere. Though he did have to fend off a man trying to sell him a six legged chicken; quite apart from having no money he was rather in a hurry after all.

Eventually he reached a building that screamed 'enigmatic evil plan'. In the colourful and hastily moving Shan Shen it was grey. Not even a nice grey. It was slab, boring grey. It was also a square block that ground all sense of vibrant movement out of the first around it. It was a very depressing place and stood out like an incredibly sore thumb.

Clearly the Slitheen didn't read 'One Hundred Ways to Hide an Evil Lair' by Doctor Edmund McDoom. Not that it was a particularly good book anyway. The Doctor much preferred his other title 'How to Be a Scourge but Maintain Good Hygiene'.

He snuck in, of course, through the front door. There were no sentries keeping watch, odd that. What was even odder was what he saw after he'd disabled most of the power cells to the building. It wasn't just John that had managed to squirm loose. His mouth dropped as he realised who was sprinting alongside him.

He could feel the tears in his eyes as she threw her arms around him. He thought she'd died, died so long ago. He hadn't even been able to mourn her as appropriate. Yet here she was all this way away on Shan Shen of all places and, as predictable for any descended from him, in the midst of trouble.

Of course before they could properly reunite there were Slitheen to be dealt with. He was supremely glad that he wired up the overhead sprinklers with a fine mist of vinegar. All it took was a lighter to bring it all raining down upon the Slitheen thereby dissolving them. He didn't want to do it, of course, but they just wouldn't listen.

The three of them stood there amidst the goopy mess and flickering lights just staring at each other for awhile. "John," he said after a moment, "this is-"

"Jenny," John interrupted with a grin, "my sister. I know."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"The Slitheen told us, they did a DNA extrapolation scan," he explained and the Doctor nodded slowly in realisation. "How did that happen anyway?" John laughed, jerking his finger at Jenny who smacked him on the back of the head.

"I visited a planet with Donna and Martha, accident really, just after I dropped you off with Jack-"

"You went visiting without me?" John frowned.

"No, my hand kind of dragged us there," the Doctor retorted, rolling his eyes.

"One of her turns?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Are you going to continue?"

"I'm getting there," the Doctor growled. He loved his son to pieces but he could be incredibly annoying.

"I was born of the populating machines on the planet they landed on," Jenny interrupted, hopping from foot to foot. "Splice DNA, recombine and grow. Except accelerated to sixteen years in about four seconds, quite impressive really."

"That is so cool," John exclaimed turning to her. "The TARDIS did pretty much the same thing with me! Except she wasn't really prepared for it and everything got a little complicated after that."

"The TARDIS?" Jenny asked, looking to the Doctor.

He was still a little stunned for words but, slowly and surely, a smile was beginning to creep across his face. "It's my ship, our ship," he told her.

"And we're Time Lords?" Jenny asked to confirm. It had been awhile after all.

"Of course!" John replied cheerily.

The Doctor reached out a hand a gently touched Jenny's temple, "I'm going to show you who we are, I didn't have time when we first met and after that I just assumed you had died, died before you had lived." He looked away for a second, "this is going to feel weird. I'm going to pass my memories and perhaps some of John's to you through telepathy, a sense every one of our species have. It's going to be confusing at first because you've never done it before-"

"Get on with it," Jenny grumbled impatiently.

John smiled, "definitely my sister," he chuckled.

The Doctor smiled at her and Jenny gasped as four years of memory, on the Doctor's side at least – it had only been a year for her, poured into her brain. She felt strange emotions and saw exciting things. She watched John grow and learned all there was to know about him in a split second. She saw the fate of Donna and couldn't help but feel sadness. Then she saw the history of their people, their planet standing beautifully in the twilight. She also saw its end and felt the terrible sadness that went with it.

The Doctor was right. To be a Time Lord was a shared suffering and culture and for the first time in her life she was complete. She was a true Time Lord - or was it Time Lady? – and did it ever feel good!

As she came back to herself she realised her brother and father were standing in the doorway waiting for her. Her father held out his hand and a huge grin was on his face. He glanced to her brother too. "Come on you two," he called, "we have stars to see! Planets to save! Civilisations to rescue! And a whole lot of running to do!"

She sprinted after them of course, after the only family she had and laughed all the way. They had a whole universe to explore. Best get to it.

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So? What did you think? I was in the need for a mush fest and here it is!

Please review and raise my lowly self esteem!

Love you all!

- D


	2. Chapter 2

Hey there! I'm back! I wasn't originally going to write this but not-for-lack-of-trying suggested it and I just sort of caved.

There are probably mistakes because my spell check isn't working and I'm in a hurry to post this and get back to work I really should be doing.

Hope you guys like!

Enjoy!

Allons-y

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**Just Keep on Running - Part II**

To say Jenny had been having a bad day was understating things a bit. Her ship had run out of fuel, she'd lost her map and hadn't eaten for quite some time. A good day would be a reverse of all the above with the combined notion of something actually happening.

This planet was so quiet. She'd arrived with no immediate difficulties (other than the lack of fuel) and so far there was nothing untoward at all about Shan Shen. It was disturbing and annoying. She'd wandered through the colourful markets, browsing the stalls and seeing the sights. All in all being very touristy.

She'd been moving around from place to place for the last four years. The things she'd seen! The ruins on Asacaria and the singing trees of Pyroflax next to the lakes of liquid fire. The dust left by supernovas and the birth of the Comets of the Far Reach. So many wonderful things that only confirmed how big the universe was. She'd run so far and so fast but still there was no sign of the Doctor. But if he found her she had the suspicion that he may be a little cross...

She'd had so many questions of course. Without him there it had been hard to answer them. There hadn't been one society that she'd encountered that hadn't known that mythical name: the Time Lords. They'd been seen as wise and ancient but gone. Long gone. But it was all Chinese whispers and nothing concrete, she was only hearing half the story. It was disappointing and really, _really_ irritating.

The markets of Shan Shen eventually gave way to dusty, but colourful, alleyways. She skipped along them, dancing in the sunbeams like a small child which, in a way, she was. She looked up into the sunshine and allowed herself to relax in its glow, she let the world pass her by as she gazed skyward with brown eyes full of curiosity.

That was how she was, arms spread as if hugging the sky and face turned toward the light, when something suddenly impacted into her. The only warning she'd had was suddenly hurried footsteps before the collision – no real time to prepare. She was thrown to the floor along with another figure a bit smaller than herself.

"Argh," the figure moaned as he tried to get up. Jenny fought quickly to untangle him from her, clutching her head as she did so, in order to get a good look at her assailant. She was shocked to find it was more of a boy than a man, humanoid in appearance and somewhat shabby. He was short, pre teen at a guess, with messy dark hair and eyes. His clothes were in utter ruins, typical man. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, offering his hand to her.

She took it and stood smoothly. She dusted off her shirt, she hated being grubby and dusty – something about it just annoyed her. "Who are you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, couldn't blame a girl for being curious right?

He was about to answer when something interrupted their admittedly awkward conversation. It was slimy and green and fat and utterly vile. Jenny shivered, repulsed by it. "Found you," it rasped in a sickly voice.

All at once her hand was seized by the boy and she was dragged behind him. "Run," he shouted and, instinctively, she followed him without question. They darted down the alleyways and boy could this kid run! He kept up and just ahead no problem, probably an athlete of some sort.

He dragged up behind a dirty stack of boxes suddenly and pressed a finger to his lips. Be quiet. Jenny nodded quickly to show she understood and became motionless. She froze as she listened to there pursuers search for them mere centimetres away, scuffle some more and then give up and move away. She sighed in relief and turned her eyes back to her young accomplice. She hadn't realised it before but the kid had sort of cute freckles.

"Sorry," the boy breathed, "I just really didn't want them to catch us."

"Well, if it's any help I didn't either," she conceded with a grin. "I like running," she admitted after a moment.

"Me too," he agreed. "It's good for you." He stood, trying to get his wrecked clothes clean. "Dad's right," he mumbled to himself. "There's something unlucky about black suits. I'm going back to brown, maybe blue. I like blue."

Jenny hummed in thought, brow furrowing as she picturing him in both. "I recommend brown," she mused, cocking her head. "It'd be a better look."

The boy looked down thoughtfully, biting his lip. "You think?"

She nodded, "definitely," she assured him. "I'm Jenny by the way," she told him brightly, "nice to meet you." She held out her hand with a grin, "how old are you anyway? Twelve or something?"

The boy shook her hand, smiled and scratched at his messy hair. The actions were oddly familiar. "Nice to meet you. I'm John, John Smith. I'm ten."

That was a surprise. There wasn't a species she knew in the galaxy that let their young wonder around at that young age. "Bit young to be running about aren't you?" she asked, cocking her head and examining the focus of her curiosity.

"Nah, do it a lot. Usually I'm with my dad but I lost him while I was being chased," John replied with a shrug.

So he was missing a dad too? Though his dad was probably a lot closer than Jenny's. Who knew it would be so hard to find one man in the whole universe? The most unique man in the universe even? "Oh, what were you doing and why were you running anyway?" She at least wanted to answer some her mountains of questions, you could never ask too many questions after all. A little irritated she sat on a nearby box and pulled out a chocolate bar. Chocolate helped her think after all.

"Why all the questions?" the boy replied in a rather annoying way as he too sat down. She watched as he began sifting through the pockets of his utterly ruined blazer. It was probably nice when it was new, shame really.

Jenny thought for a moment, "I like questions and you look interesting," she told him honestly with what she had learned was a very charming grin.

"Fair enough," John replied in a tone touching on sarcasm but not quite there. Wise choice that. If he'd been flippant with her she'd have taken him to the cleaners. She focused on him as he resumed speaking once more, "Well, me and dad came for a look around, nothing bad you understand. We weren't looking for trouble or anything. We found all these warp stars filled with nuclear explosions and we thought that wasn't good. They were set to go off so we defused them. Evidently we annoyed someone because I just spent the last twenty four minutes running away from them."

Now that sounded interesting! She leaned forward, "really? What was chasing you?"

"They're called the Slitheen and they're from Raxacoricofallapatorius, its some way away," John told her as he rifled through his things, not exactly looking at her. Sort of rude that. "They were chasing us because we foiled the family business thing they've got going. They destroy planetary life with a nuclear explosion and sell of the radioactive slag to any dodgy dealer thy can find. Dad told me about it."

Her day was getting better! Sounded like there were people that needed saving. "And you stopped them?" she asked.

"Me and dad? Yeah I guess so."

"I think I'll have to go with you," Jenny told him with no room for argument. If trouble followed this boy then so would she.

"What? You can't do that," John replied, looking up at her sharply, eyes narrowing. "Dad said no hitchers anyway."

Funny, she had a similar policy herself. But no matter what she was going to follow him and he needed to understand that. She opened her mouth to reply but someone else got there first. A very disgusting someone. "There you are, little flies," a voice gurgled. There it was again, one of the most ugly creatures she'd ever seen.

"Hi," John managed. "I'm sorry I think you have the wrong people."

"No, I don't think I do," the Slitheen chuckled and Jenny could swear it was grinning as it began to corner them.

"Don't try to run," rasped another voice and Jenny turned slightly. Great, they'd been surrounded. Wonderful.

John voiced her frustrations as he shoved his hands in his pockets; "Oh come on! Reinforcements? That's just not fair."

The first Slitheen struggled even closer to them. Jenny mused how she'd hate to have such a large ungainly body as it did so. "I think, little flies, that you will be coming with us," it gurgled.

"What do we do?" she asked because, as of that moment, she was drawing blanks in the escape plan department.

"Well, we're kind of in a dead end so I suggest we do exactly what they say," John replied clearly having the same mental trouble.

Jenny laughed, the situation was sort of funny and she'd done this a surprising amount of times. "And then what?" she asked with a grin.

John returned her wild grin with enthusiasm. "I'm making this up as I go along. But don't worry, I've got family history."

Jenny was not reassured but hey, at least there was the promise of a plan right? Better than many of her usual escapades.

They were led to a remarkably dull building for such a colourful planet. It was slate grey and something about it conveyed a general sense of uncleaness. It really put her on edge. To her joy there were even more of the disgusting creatures and weird tables that she usually found in med-bays on deep spacers. Great. And now she was strapped to one. Fantastic! The machinery around the tables was more or less harmless, or at least that's what she thought as she squinted at it. She'd seen a lot of death rays and these didn't look anything like them.

She closed her eyes as a blue laser ran over her accompanied by a loud whirring noise. It buzzed aroung them like an irritating fly for a while longer before disappearing. A device was forced on her head, slightly mussing her hair to her irritation, and proceeded to do an intelligence scan. The pressure on her brain was uncomfortable. Well it was all in the experience and things were finally starting to look interesting.

There was a moment of awkward silence. It was quickly broken by John with the proverbial baseball bat. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

"Well what?" one of them replied on impulse.

"Why are we here?" John replied slowly, as if the Slitheen were very stupid. Which, in Jenny's informed opinion, they were.

"Your genetic results have revealed you are not from this galactic quadrant," a Slitheen on the far left told them.

Look who's talking, ugly! She began to tug against her restraints, testing them. "Well that's not unusual is it?" she heard John ask. "Why is it relevant anyway? I thought you were trying to kill us, not that I'm not all for being alive or anything."

"Awhile back some of our ancestors were incarcerated on Justicia Prime, the prison planet," gurgled the Slitheen working on the control panel. "The humans had captured them to use our superior intelligence to further their own invention." Beady black eyes turned to them, "this idea, though poorly executed by that disgusting race, has merit. Initial brain wave scans have indicated that you both possess a very high intelligence rating. You will work for us."

There didn't seem to be a lot of choice in that little piece of dialogue. "Doing what exactly? Other than inventing I mean. What are we inventing for?" she asked as she leant against her restraints, craning her neck to try and see the control panel.

"Your inventions will further the business."

"Oh. You mean the destroying planets thing?" He answered before she could, she wanted the last word! "We already put a stop to that here though," he told them with a frown.

"It is only fitting that, since you disrupted this venture, you benefit with our next business plan," the monster told him mashing the buttons with large claws angrily.

"Wait, what would have happened if we'd not been smart enough?" What could she say? She was curious and it was fun to try and rile up these slimy things.

"You would have been hunted and killed."

"Oh right. That's nice." She wished she hadn't asked.

She thought for a moment, imagining little cogs whiring in her head. "I still don't think I'm going to work for you. The whole destroying worlds gig isn't my thing. Dad would never approve." Jenny wanted to see her father more than anything she realised. She wanted to see that tall man with messy hair and wide grin that taught her how to run and how to laugh. She'd always sought to act as he would just to feel that little bit closer.

"If you do not assist us we will kill this young male," it slurped. Well that was new.

She looked at John and they shared a look. It was a good, important look. She hadn't seen one of those in quite some time. He smiled at her reassuringly, a kind look she'd seen before. She barely knew him but she didn't want him to die! "That's fine with me. If I stopped the destruction of this planet what makes you think I'm going to help you blow up others?" He laughed and she smiled. Seemed he followed a philosophy like hers. Sometimes you've got to laugh or you'll wind up screaming.

"Do not be impertinent! There is no joke here! If you do not cooperate we will kill your brother," the Slitheen threatened with a shriek.

Her what? Jenny stared at the creature with an odd look of bemusement on her face. John voiced her opinion perfectly, "We aren't siblings," he told them slowly.

"Nonsense," gurgled the one at the control panel. "Our DNA scanners indicate that your DNA strands share more than eighty seven percent of DNA variables, well over the rate of most species to indicate the fact that you share a parent. In fact, there are only a thousandth of the total strands that you do not share in some rearranged order."

They shared what? For a moment she couldn't speak. She had a brother? Wasn't inconvceiable she guessed. She stared at him closely before looking back to the Slitheen that held them captive. "You're kidding," she replied, stunned to hear John saying it in exact sync with her.

"You do not know your own family connections?" one slurped, incredulously. Well it was pretty stupid.

There was even more silence. "Well we do travel a lot," John mused at last.

"I have been to a lot of planets," Jenny agreed, she thoughtfully looked down and scrolled through them in her head.

"But the odds are uncountable," the boy restrained next to her decided with a decisive nod.

"Astronomical," Jenny replied, mind reeling from the mathematical possibility. Her eyes sped back to his and she felt the grin tear across her face. As she watched, at the same time an identicle grin spread across John's face. "And completely _impossible_," they spoke at the same time.

She examined him and suddenly she felt so utterly thick. In that young face her own brown eyes gazed back at her, warm and full of mirth. His hair was the colour of chocolate and a complete mess, just like her dad's. There was just that chaotic element to it that seemed to infect everything he touched. Where she had a few faded freckles John was covered with a colony of the things, giving him a childish air. They were both rake thin and swift runners, they carried mischief wherever they went.

This boy was her brother, something about her past that should cat at last touch. She wanted to talk to him, to know everything about him. To know where the hell their useless father was!

"And that means," she said slowly after a moment, grin getting wider as she thought it over, "that you're in trouble, because-"

"-if we do share a dad," John finished for her, "and it's the guy I'm thinking of, then he's coming for us. Right now. And that's bad news for you."

Jenny couldn't help but agree.

"And why is that?" the Slitheen nearest them asked.

She felt her grin broaden and her heart rise with mirth, "Because he saves planets!"

"He rescues civilizations!" John crowed in response.

"And, most importantly, he defeats terrible creatures," she finished. "And I think that you fall into all those categories." Might as well relax, the big good was on the way to sort out the big bad after all.

The room shook as an explosion rocked them from beneath. "What was that?" cried one Slitheen in a panicked voice.

"Dad's here," her brother, wow it was good to say that, replied, "and I rather think you're in trouble. I mean you listened to the guy trying to keep you talking long enough for this to happen so you wouldn't notice the locator beacon in his back pocket. Talk about amateur!"

There was a crack and light split the darkness. There he was before her eyes at last. The Lonely God, the Wanderer, the last Time Lord. Well, he used to be the last Time Lord. Not anymore. She felt her smile get even wider. This was where things started to get fun.

----

That was all it had taken for Jenny to have a family again, that simple little sequence of events. It was weird. She'd gone from always being alone to suddenly having a very active, very invasive family. Her life had become so full of noise and activity.

She couldn't have been happier.

Her brother, the marvellous John Smith, was a bundle of energy. He may have looked like a kid but his brain was sharp as a knife. She'd felt inferior to him at first, like he knew so much more. In a way he did, he'd been around and with their father a whole lot longer than her. She'd felt there was this enormous distance between them. It was like no matter how hard she ran she could never catch up to him.

She'd told him, of course, within half and hour of being with him and guess what the jerk went and did? He just grinned at her and laughed. "What're you talking about?" he'd asked her, punching her lightly on the arm. "You're you and I'm me, of course we're different." He'd smiled sincerely then and she'd never forget his words. "You're just as smart as me, Jen. Just as vivid and bright. I wouldn't want you any other way and neither would, dad."

And that was her sort-of-little-brother. He had messy hair like their father, as well as his skin and eyes. He dressed in similar suits, if a little more informal. He tottered around with the same sense of disattatchment and childish glee. But her brother was his own person too. He was able to engage with others more than their father and he was a good person to talk too when she was sad.

That said he was also a childish brat who needed to learn the meaning of the word 'privacy'! Not matter what the species, race or culture code it seemed that younger brothers irritated their sisters without mercy and John was certainly no exception to this rule. She could wring his scrawny neck sometimes!

Her father, her wonderful old man, was also as painfully kind. At first he just sort of held her close and crushed her as if he'd never let go. He thought she'd died and had been mourning all that time. All alone.

But not any more.

She'd realised she had so much to learn! In a way he'd also had so much to teach. They'd had what John called 'culture lessons' where the Doctor told them about their homeworld and their culture, their language. Everything that was their birthright but they'd never have a chance to know.

There was loss there, there was pain and suffering. She was a proper Time Lord now, in a way.

The moment she'd stepped into the TARDIS it had been like coming home. The glowing room and its metal grating had warmth to them, sensitivity and wonder. She could hear the laughter trapped here, the happiness of centuries. It was a room full of colours. She danced among them while her family watched confused, they just didn't see the world the way she did.

"Jenny," he brother's voice called her back to the real world.

"What is it?" she asked absently from where she'd been daydreaming against the TARDIS control panel.

"We're here," her father told her with a grin. His kind eyes smiled at her.

"We're where?" Now she was confused, why were they both grinning at her like madmen?

"Sarah-Jane's remember?" John said, rolling his eyes and tuning the monitor.

Oh yes! How could she have forgotten? They were going to a friend of their father's for some Earth festival, Christmas was it? They were going to celebrate. When she'd ask why they were celebrating a religion that wasn't theirs her dad had told her that the principle of the festival was a gathering together of family and friends, a time of warmth and laughter. That was it meant to them at least. The whole thing didn't sound so bad, she guessed.

"Jen, can you grab the presents. They're next to the hub," her dad called as he pulled on his jacket.

She bent down and scooped the brightly wrapped gifts, unsure as to their purpose. She bit her lip and stared at them thoughtfully. "What if they don't like me?" she asked, gaze moving to the floor.

Both the Doctor and John paused to look at her and a for awhile no one said anything. Then her father smiled, "of course they'll like you," he said, walking over and seizing her hand. "They're our family, they'll love just as we do." He smiled gently at her before excitedly dragging her out of the TARDIS. She laughed, her dad really was a huge child.

The house they approached was quite large and looked to be in a smaller part of London. Snow dusted the streets. She'd learned all about Earth from her father and brother of course. She paused and closed her eyes, beneath her feet the earth span and the sun was warm on her face. On the wind she could hear the almost-whispers of millions of people living simple and easy lives. The sky was a clear, crystal blue. It was beautiful here. Now she could see why her family loved this little planet so.

The Doctor knocked sharply on the door. It swung open within seconds and there was a dark haired woman there, he hair was shoulder length and brown – though there were the first few telling grew hairs. With a wide smile she embraced her father close, swiftly followed by John. "You must be, Jenny," she said as she finally reached her. Without any further words she pulled her close into a warm hug.

She'd never felt anything like it. It was gentle. Nice. She closed her eyes.

The woman, Sarah Jane, pulled away. "It's nice to finally meet you," she continued. "You're tall like your father," she remarked, glancing at the Time Lord on her left. She turned back to the house, "Well, com on in then," she called over her shoulder. "Dinner will start soon and everyone else is already here!"

They'd hurried into the house and into a living room full of people. There was a man named Luke, introduced to her as Sarah Jane's adopted son. His friends were also there, crowding round a large wooden table. To her surprise Martha Jones, a woman she only just remembered, was also there. She hugged Jenny close and grinned as they shared a memory. She introduced her to her husband Thomas Milligan – she was now Martha Milligan – a man who seemed a bit surprised to find out that Jenny was a time travelling alien. She had to say though, for a human, he was taking it remarkably well.

"Where's Jack?" she heard John ask Sarah Jane.

"He said he's spending Christmas with someone special this year," she replied, handing him a cup of tea before offering Jenny hers.

"He's found himself a man then?" John asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sarah Jane laughed and smacked him over the back of the head.

Next they exchanged gifts as custom for the festival dictated and Jenny soon found that the joy wasn't in the presents themselves but rather in the act of giving them. Soon she laughed too and had a rather childish wrapping paper fight with John and Luke. Her dad of course had to join in.

Then the table was loaded with so much food it was practically groaning and there was a struggle to seat them all round it. It was a feast and soon they all got stuck in. There seemed to be this odd tradition of wearing paper hats retrieved from crackers that made anyone who wore them look stupid but they did anyway. It was sort of funny so she joined in.

She was so happy she realised then. Saving the universe was fun, seeing all the star births and cultures and planets was fun too. But it was not as fun when there was no one with you. She supposed she was the proverbial prodigal son – or daughter – and she'd finally come home. This was her family, their family.

She'd come home and no more would she wander.

---

What did you guys think? Is this okay for Jenny's POV, I've never really dabbled in it before...

I'm a bit off and this has been my therapy. Recently a family friend died, a guy that was one of the kindest people I've ever met so I'm really out of sorts. I never really got to say goodbye and I'm not going to make the funeral. This is why the last part of the fic is dedicated to him and his family. The happiness is not in the gift, it's in the act of giving.

That said we move on. Please review! The ego is small as ever and needs help!

Also there is another fic in the works, probably be up some time next week! Make sure to check it out!

Love ya!

- D


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